BIMCO announced a collaboration with Ocean Bottle, in order to support its campaign to remove single-use plastic bottles from ships.
BIMCO believes that there is more chance of solving the plastic crisis if many people take small steps in the right direction.
On ships, even if plastics are sorted, managed and discharged to shore in a proper way, the mismanagement of that waste on land means it can still reach the ocean. This is independent of all the best efforts of the shipping industry
As such, BIMCO added that removing unnecessary plastics from ships is the best option. By “unnecessary”, it means those plastics that are simply used once and then are thrown away.
With up to 1.75 billion plastic bottles a year being used onboard, small steps could have a really big impact.
A reusable bottle symbolises the change that should be made, with ships moving from single-use plastic bottles to sustainable alternatives such as onboard water supplies or larger dispensers.
There are other benefits too:
- BIMCO estimates that an onboard system is a quarter of the cost of providing water in single-use plastic bottles and can pay for itself in only one year;
- Refills can save CO2 emissions- our evidence suggests around 2,355 kgs per vessel per year;
- Refilling a bottle supports crew welfare too – today’s alternatives provide good quality, safe and tasty drinking water.
Why ocean bottle?
While there are many options of re-usable bottles on the market and different bottles will suit different ships, BIMCO partnered with Ocean Bottle to support the campaign and to provide a product that can help spread the message.
Every Ocean Bottle funds the collection of 11.4kg of Ocean Plastic from the worlds most polluted waterways, that’s over 1,000 single use plastic bottles in weight.
Plastic is collected by locals from some of the worst affected coastal communities such as the Philippines, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, India and Indonesia, who then exchange the plastic for money or receive digital credit to swap for tuition, tech goods, healthcare and micro-finance.
This infrastructure is made possible with help from partners Plastic Bank, Plastics for Change and rePurpose who set up collection sites and ensure transactions to collectors are secure through traceable technology.
The Ocean Bottle means that everyone can pass on single-use plastic every day. BIMCO will be sharing the branded bottles among key stakeholders over the months to come.
We don’t need a handful of people doing sustainability perfectly; we need millions doing it imperfectly
Ocean Bottle stated.
